video; un: youradhere

[buildingcastles]

[Well, this is certainly bringing things full circle. The irony doesn't escape him, but this time Christian is actually making an effort to do his job. As much as can be expected from him, of course.

Which means the network gets a nice view of a man at a small desk, looking more like an assistant than a professional in his oversized sweater and jeans completing the look with tousled hair. He's organizing books on the surface as he addresses the network, with titles including How to Find Yourself, Practical Counseling, and The Pocket Manual for Technical Magic stacked on top of each other. He has the phone sitting on one such stack, propped up behind the others.]

So. [Wait, false start.] You ever feel like this place is just a little bit weird?

I mean, how many cities have portals that lead to other worlds and collect people? And hire Magic Counselors? Hi, I'm Christian, Magic Counselor if you ever need one. I'm not sure how many people here do the magic thing. Do you?

Comments

[ video | un: trickster ]

[dothelokimotion]

I pity anyone who might get counseled by you.

[buildingcastles]

What? Why? You haven't even tried it yet!

[ Like that's really going to make a difference. ]

[dothelokimotion]

I've spoken to you enough times to know better.

@dodger//video

[smokedout]

Are you ever gonna stop showing up outta the blue, all casually?

[What exactly do you WANT him to be doing, Dodger, making a formal announcement...?]

[buildingcastles]

Um, probably not.

[Seeing as that is how spirits or semi-spirits do things. He's still convinced that this whole exchange won't stick, but he's actually trying. That's something!]

What should I do? Make it more serious?

video; un: frayed

[outofthinair]

[ Clary's hair was pulled back in a ponytail, so there was a rune visible on the right side of her neck. ]

So, you cover all kinds of magic? Or just like -- [ She wiggled her fingers like she was maybe trying to conjure something up. ] -- that kind of magic.

video;

[buildingcastles]

[ He was still getting used to the idea of people being public and upfront about magic, but the way Clary asked her question, so matter of fact, stirred something in him that made him smile. Christian held up his hand, mimicking the motions, and laughed. ]

That kind of magic? [ As he spoke, a tiny, faint tendril of gray, like smoke, wafted between his fingers. It was gone quickly, maybe just a trick of the light. Maybe. ]

I don't know about all kinds. That seems like it'd be a lot to cover. But I have seen a trick or two before. What were you thinking of?

video, @hiccup

[thisisamazing]

[The background behind Hiccup is a little hard to make out, being mostly black, something with a scaly smooth texture. The stranger part is that the background noise is the whistling of wind, and the ends of his hair are being blown around gently.

In truth, he's laying back in the saddle on Toothless going for a lazy flight.]

A 'little bit' weird? [He laughs.] More like a lot weird. Partly because people project their faces onto highly advanced little boxes and ask who does magic. And also because magic exists. Still getting used to that one.

video

[buildingcastles]

[There's a young guy flying on the other end of the network. Flying, or sitting on something with a really good fan in his face. But Christian can make out the movement of the sky behind him, which is really weird. Maybe not a clear view, but enough to make him squint and wonder.]

Oh, right, still getting used to that too. People asserting magic exists, I mean. Magic exists, by the way, did you know that? But how are you? Have you tried the burger place up the street?

[He gestures as he mimics an exaggerated impression of casual conversation.]

Also portals. To other worlds. That's some kind of sci-fi thing. If anything shouldn't be real, it's the technology here. It's breaking some kind of science law, I'm sure.

text; gypsygirl

[likeacoupon]

What kind of magic do you do?

text;

[buildingcastles]

Uh, I can perform basic rituals. With good directions. And sometimes I can imbue energy into things. I mean, other than enchantments and wards.

[ Which he is not that good at. He's picked up techniques other, actually practiced people showed him, but putting those things together is always a learning experience. Still, who knows what anyone in Quarantine can do? ]

And now you're going to ask if I'm serious.

video → actualwizard666

[wiccant]

( there's a green viper curled around his neck, tongue flicking against his cheek and giant shelves full of old books stacked behind him--some covered in dust, others recently cleaned off and re-placed. )

What does a magic counselor do, exactly?

video

[buildingcastles]

Nice snake. [Because if anyone is just casually calling with a deadly snake around his neck, he's trying to draw attention to it. Might as well give the man what he wants.]

I, um, counsel people. With... magic things. Probably.

[ Nailed it. ]

video; (un: d.pavus)

[tevinteraltus]

[He smiles as the video feed initializes. If any of the jars, books, and other "magic things" in the background are any indication, Dorian's probably a mage.]

Well yes, this place is odd, but that's part of its charm. What precisely do you council in regards to magic?

video;

[buildingcastles]

[Jars, books, and other D&D props? He definitely sees some cool LARPing scenes here.]

Ah, details, right. [Christian winces a little. That's the problem, he's neither an actual counselor or particularly trained as people in his world would tell him. What is he advising precisely?]

I guess I'm your resident... magical IT guy? I found a book here on troubleshooting, so I think the job probably involves some of that. Other than that, I think they said I'm supposed to help out if something magical goes wrong here. Or help people out with accepting the whole magic... thing.

[video;]

[personifications]

So is this where you add a bit about talking to ghosts and my dead grandmum wanting to talk to me, or what?

[ "Weird" is generously tame. GENEROUSLY. He does not remotely look like he believes this. At all. ]

[video;]

[buildingcastles]

[ There's the response he was expecting. Good old human skepticism. It's almost reassuring to have that familiar teasing. It proves that the place isn't totally crazy. ]

How much money are you willing to spend?

I don't talk to ghosts. Ghosts usually don't talk to people. That's a different trick.

video; un: stranger.things

[potentialed]

"Magic counselor".

[ And yeah he says that with a bit of a dry droll. ]

And just what does that entail exactly?

video;

[buildingcastles]

To be fair, I didn't make the job up, I just accepted the offer.

[ Hello to you too. Another skeptical sounding guy, although not quiet as biting as the first one. ]

I... just help, I guess. This isn't really my usual thing, so I honestly don't know what other people usually do in this job. I assume they give handy life advice and help people that are struggling with magical blowouts or something. I've been looking at the reading they stock here. It seems... typical?

[ He shrugs. ]

I think I'm just going to keep office hours and talk to people. Counselor, right?

video; @pnwsalex

[11calls]

[Alex is just gonna stare for a moment, before she flicks on the video looking more than a little interested.]

How does a magical counselor differ from a normal one?

video;

[buildingcastles]

It involves about 80% more gremlins.

[See how funny he is?]

Seriously, though. I almost expect to have appointments with angels and swamp monsters. You think they need counseling?

video | @arcarius

[angelic_archer]

[Alec's expression doesn't hint at if he believes in magic or not, carefully neutral since he's not sure what this being's talking about.]

What exactly does a magic counselor do?

video

[buildingcastles]

I don't know.

[ Well, no, that's not true. They did give him a primer. ]

Apparently I counsel people over their magical life concerns, help them work through adjustment periods or solve out of control abilities, stuff like that.

[ Which he actually does understand more than he wants to let on. ]

Or I help the monsters in our closets when they suffer from sensual terror dysfunction. Maybe that.

[ Christian, no. ]

I think I'd take that job right about now.

Video @KingFisherman

[brotrips]

My world has magic, but not like that.

Magic Counselor? I didn't know we had one of those. I can harvest magic from the right kind of elemental stones, and I have some other abilities, but it's not really magic.

What does a Counselor do?

Video

[buildingcastles]

Well, apparently you do now. As if... two days ago, actually.

[Yup. He has no idea why the people of Gramarye were hiring for that position either, but apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to hire him. And that answer actually does resonate with him.]

Where I'm from, people use energy channeled through crystals sometimes, so it's not too different from that. Maybe I'm just here to help everyone sort things out. You know, if you need someone to talk to or things get hard. Magic doesn't always work the way we want it to.